


Ghosts Advent Calendar

by haventacluewhatimdoing



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Alison just wants a day of peace, Alison needs a day off, Anger, Banter, Bittersweet, But Rain is bonkers means the character, Cake, Carol Singing, Cats, Chocolate, Christmas, Christmas Cake, Christmas Cards, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Jumpers, Christmas Movies, Christmas Music, Christmas Shopping, Christmas Tree, English, Food, Gen, Glitter, Hugs, Hurt No Comfort, I feel sorry for Alison, I'm gonna try and give it to her, I'm sorryyyyy, I've been very mean to Mary i'm tryna fix that, It's confusing I'm sorry, Jealous Mike, Jealousy, Kinda, Kitty needs hugs, Literature, Moon, My tags are always a right mess sorry, Normal Christmas? I think not, Or rather a cat, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pat Needs A Hug, Pat has my heart, Phone Calls & Telephones, Platypuses, Rain, Rain is bonkers, Screaming, Slice of Life, Snow, Stars, Tea, That isn't a tag either i am shocked, That should totally be a tag already, The Great British Bake Off References, The tag rain means the stuff that falls out the sky, There's gonna be a lot of christmas, There's so many tags i thought would exist but don't, This is becoming less Christmassy every day I'll try and kick it back into Christmas gear, Tinsel, We getting back on the Christmas theme hooray, Where's the snow at can it just snow this year please we all deserve it after 2020, Why did i just assume that was already a tag, Yum, how is that not a tag????, i love him so much, i'm in shock, just like me, long words, nativity, not for long though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 8,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27824953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haventacluewhatimdoing/pseuds/haventacluewhatimdoing
Summary: The countdown to Christmas has begun...
Relationships: Alison & Mary, Alison & Robin, Alison & The Captain (Ghosts TV 2019), Alison (Ghosts TV 2019) & Everyone, HOW IS THAT NOT A TAG ALREADY - Relationship, Shocked that isn't already a tag, The Captain & Pat (Ghosts TV 2019)
Comments: 167
Kudos: 102





	1. Day 1: Parrot

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So instead of focusing on my ongoing fics I've decided to start yet another one! I'm gonna try and update this daily :)
> 
> The words are coming from my family and friends - I simply asked them to give me a noun, so there are some pretty random things coming up!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

"IT'S CHRISTTTTTTMAAAAASSSSS!" Kitty yelled as she burst through Alison's bedroom wall at 6am. Alison jumped out of bed, before realising it was just a ghost and glaring at her.  
"Kitty, it's 6am, and only the 1st of December." Alison yawned, rubbing her eyes.  
"It's Christmas for me," Kitty sang as she left the room. Alison leant against the wall, thumping her head back gently. Mike had somehow managed to stay asleep throughout the whole fiasco. Alison threw on her dressing gown and made her way to the kitchen, knowing she wouldn't be going back to sleep now.

~☆~☆~☆~ 

"Mike, have you found it?" Alison yelled from the bottom of the ladder. Despite Fanny's protests ('a fake Christmas tree? How preposterous! This house has always had the finest, tallest...'), Mike and Alison were retrieving all their Christmas decorations, including the _fake_ tree, from the attic. They had bought a large one last year, only having had a 4ft tree for their flat in previous years. They'd also stocked up on Christmas baubles and other ornaments to go on the tree, many of which were sitting in the main common room to be opened, having arrived over the last couple of days.

After a few precarious moments including the tree falling down the stairs, everything had been set up and most of the ornaments hung. Mike was hanging up lights around the house, Alison reprimanding Robin when he tampered with them ('So many light, me not help it!'). The final thing to do was to open the new ornaments.

Alison had let each of the ghosts choose something off Etsy to put on the Christmas tree. She had to shoot down a few of Julian's suggestions, but on the whole she was very excited.

Robin had got a clear bauble with a flickering tea light inside of it. Alison thought it was very tasteful, unlike Fanny, who called it 'cheap tack', although in more elaborate words.

Humphrey had got a little felt elf, but Alison had managed to get the seller to add a collared ruff onto the neck. Mary had asked for a simple nativity scene, which hung from numerous branches.

Kitty chose a glass Christmas tree, with coloured lights painted onto it, which was Alison's personal favourite. Thomas had got a little book, which Alison had got the maker to add 'The Works of Thomas Thorne' onto the front. Fanny demanded that she got a traditional ornament, so Alison managed to order a Liberty bauble for her, purple with red holly decorated on it.

The Captain originally wanted a tank, however Alison had managed to find a bauble with a painted scene of Christmas Day 1914 on it, and the Captain had been on the verge of tears, simply nodding at it. Pat had asked for little wooden ornaments, like he remembered having in the 70s. Alison had found some originals, which made Pat very happy.

Julian had wanted filth, but Alison had sternly shot him down, so he relented and went for a generic bauble, although in Tory blue.

Finally it was Alison's turn to open her own. She was really excited, it had looked beautiful on the website. She tore into the packaging to pull out...

"A parrot?" Pat asked, bewildered. The rest of the ghosts were studying the ornament with varying degrees of interest. Kitty looked positively joyous, while Julian snorted and Fanny had shock written across her face.  
"That's not a robin." The Captain pointed out.  
"What? Me right here!"  
"Not you."  
"I, uh, there must have been a mistake. It's quite cute though." Alison admitted, turning the bauble around in her hands. It wasn't what she had ordered, but it had a charm all of its own.

"Right, it's going on." Alison decided, getting up from her seat and hanging it high up on the tree.  
"Whose ever heard of a Christmas parrot?" Thomas scoffed.  
"Oh, be quiet. I like it." Pat smiled at Alison, who stood back to admire her handiwork.

Nothing ever went to plan at Button House, but that was okay.


	2. Day 2: Zebra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas cards start arriving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I ask my mates for nouns, apparently lots of them read it as 'an animal'. I've got loads more coming up, gonna have to get creative!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this little drabble!

Alison was sitting in the kitchen, wrapping her dressing gown tighter around her shoulders. The weather had got much colder over the last couple of days, and despite the plague ghosts' help with the boiler, Button House was very cold due to the draught coming through the windows. She flicked through her phone, looking at the many Christmas photos on instagram - her feed barely had anything else on it.

"Red man!" Robin yelled, running through the door, making Alison jump. She sighed, getting up to follow him and Kitty to the front door.  
"Friends together, get the post together!" Kitty sang as Alison made her way down the hall. There were bills, as normal, a leaflet about a charity collection, but what interested her most were a couple of envelopes with Christmas stamps on them, their address hand-written on the front.

"Ooh, these look exciting! What are they?" Kitty asked.  
"Probably Christmas cards." Alison responded, making her way back to the kitchen and her warm cup of tea. She passed Pat on the way, who followed her. She sat down, opening the bills and putting before moving onto the cards.

"I like that! Reminds me of the ones I used to send." Pat stared wistfully into space as Alison placed the first card on the table - a cartoon Santa face wearing green sparkly glasses. It was from Alison's best mate from uni. They barely saw each other anymore, since she moved to Ireland, but they kept in touch.

She ripped the envelope of the second one open (she never had been very neat at opening things), and pulled out a card with...

"Is that a zebra?"  
"What be a zebra?" Mary asked, entering the room. Alison showed the card to her, at which she screamed.  
"Somebody hath painted that horse with stripes!" She pointed at it with one hand, the other covering her mouth in shock.  
"No, Mary, it's a real animal." Alison sighed. The card did make her smile though. It was a zebra with a reindeer antler headband on, with the caption 'do you think Santa and the reindeer will notice?' It was from Obi, who always had a good sense of humour.

"I like that." Pat smiled at the card. "Comedy cards are always the best." Robin seemed to be having a staring contest with the zebra on the card, while Kitty kept moving around the room, squealing at the sparkly glitter on the Santa card.

Alison rubbed her forehead. If Christmas cards were going to cause this much of a kerfuffle, what was the actual day going to be like?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Santa card is one I have been sent this year - it's very cute. The zebra one is [ here ](https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=zebra%20christmas%20card#id=FA72C2B6164FCAC112CFD510CA2D993A53589219).


	3. Day 3: Lucifer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison puts some Christmas music on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written while I was on the bus, as there was a huge traffic jam. I had my headphones in and got inspired.
> 
> And yes, I was wearing a mask :)
> 
> I think this is my fav chapter so far, hope you enjoy!

Alison hummed along to her CD as she hung up the rest of the Christmas lights. It was a 'Now That's What I Call Christmas' from about 10 years ago, as she'd found it cheap in a charity shop.

Thomas walked in, a dreamy look on his face. Alison sighed. She already knew this wasn't going to be good news.  
"Fair Alison, I hath composed a poem for you." Thomas bowed deeply. She tutted, but gestured for him to proceed.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas,  
There is just one thing I need,  
I don't care about the presents,  
Underneath the Christmas tree,  
I just want you for my own,  
More than you could ever know,  
Make my wish come true,"  
"All I want for Christmas is you." Alison joined in at the end. Thomas gasped.  
"Our minds are in sync!" He exclaimed. Alison shook her head, silently laughing.  
"No, that's Mariah Carey. You must have heard me play it earlier."

Thomas widened his eyes in shock, before muttering his apologies and leaving the exiting the room.

Later that day, Alison and the ghosts were sitting around the fire in the common room. Alison was educating them on Christmas songs from the last 60 years. Julian and Pat recognised some of them, but the other ghosts were shocked.  
"One should always sing hymns at Christmas, not this... absurdity." Fanny remarked, followed by a 'hear hear' from the Captain.  
"Lighten up guys," Pat exclaimed.

A loud 'IT'S CHRIIIIIIISTMAAAAASSSSS!' sounded from the speakers, making the ghosts jump. The song carried on, Alison tapping her foot along. However, it didn't get very far in before Mary yelled,  
"Tis the work of Lucifer!"  
"You what?" Pat asked her.  
"This... this not be music! This be the sound of hell-spawn!" She was trembling like a leaf, covering her face with her hands.  
"Mary, it's just Slade."  
"They've been slayed??" Mary panicked.

It took a good ten minutes for Alison and Pat to convince Mary that the song wasn't written by the devil, but by a British rock band in 1973. However, just as they had returned to a sense of calm, a highly distorted guitar and heavy drums started, causing Mary to run out of the room.

Alison sighed. Was there not a single aspect of Christmas that could go normally?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So of course, Thomas is quoting All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey. The Slade song is Merry Xmas Everybody. The last one could really be any heavy Christmas song - I personally was thinking of the My Chemical Romance cover of All I Want For Christmas.


	4. Day 4: Platypus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison gets a gift in the post.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I was struggling for ideas for this one. So I searched 'Platypus gift ideas' into Ecosia, and I found [ this. ](https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=platypus%20gift%20ideas#id=BA84374CD7C518E2FFD44A1322097C93203CCAE9)
> 
> I really wish my list had less animals on, but oh well.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Alison woke up mildly excited. According to the weather forecast, it was going to snow that morning. She opened the curtains to yell 'ready steady go!' at the Captain, only to be disappointed by nothing more than a mild drizzle.

She made her way downstairs, wrapped tightly in her dressing gown. Honestly, what was the point of it being 0 degrees if it wasn't going to snow? She flipped the kettle on, grabbing herself a bowl of rice krispies before noticing a package on the side counter.

Frowning, she picked it up and turned it over. There was nothing on it, simply her address. She shrugged, and ripped the paper open. Inside she found a hessian bag, a bright pink... thing, and a note. It read:

_Hey Ali!_

_So I know it ain't Christmas yet, but I saw this and couldn't contain myself. And since I doubted you had any loose leaf (honestly, call yourself tea drinkers?), I bought some of that for you too._

_Lots of love,_

_Rain x_

Alison smiled, setting the note down and studying the plastic animal in more detail. It had a huge yellow beak and a white stomach, as well as an opening at the back to put loose leaf tea in.

"Ooh, what's that?" Pat asked, making Alison jump. She hadn't noticed him come in.  
"It's a tea diffuser. My mate Rain bought it for me. They're the one who sent that Santa card." She showed Pat the plastic object, who seemed to deliberate with himself before nodding.  
"May I ask, why a platypus?"  
"I was totally obsessed with them back when I was 11." Alison shook her head. "No idea why. But Rain never let it go. She travels a lot, so now every time they see anything remotely related, she buys it." Pat chuckled.  
"There are worse things to be hooked on."

Alison used her new diffuser that morning, along with the loose leaf tea (Rain was right: they did only have teabags). Just as she was finishing her breakfast, Kitty and Mary burst through the wall.  
"Where is it?"  
"Me wants to know what this animal do look likes."  
Alison simply pointed to her mug. Kitty gasped in excitement, while Mary screamed.  
"It be an animal of Satan! A swan that be flat and round!" She ran out of the room, muttering curses towards the plastic platypus. Alison raised her eyebrows, but stayed silent.

Nothing ever went normally at Button House.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to snow today. Except it didn't :(
> 
> I kinda now want one of those tea diffusers... they're pretty awesome.


	5. Day 5: Beam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pat feels a bit down. Someone unexpected comforts him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter isn't very Christmassy, so apologies for that.
> 
> I just felt that we always see Pat happy and caring, always helping others, and I wanted to show that everybody has their bad days.
> 
> A bit of a character study, hope you don't mind.
> 
> Hope you like this little chapter.

Pat's room was in the attic. It was draughty and cold, with lots of holes in the roof from where the wood had rotted away. One corner was more intact than the others, and this was where Alison and Mike kept their seasonal belongings, boxes of sentimental objects and the like. Pat had always slept on the floor, until Alison had asked him about it one day. She was adamant to get Pat a proper bed, despite his protests. In the end, they had compromised, and Pat now had a sleeping bag and pillow which he used.

He didn't mind. As a ghost, he thought sleeping in the attic caused the least disruption to Alison and Mike's life. They already had 8 other ghosts to deal with, there was hardly any need for him to add to the drama.

It was raining, the wind blowing the water through the gaps in the roof. It was an odd sensation, Pat thought, rain passing through you. It wasn't necessarily unpleasant, unlike walking through a living being. It was more like a tingling feeling. He knew some of the others hated it, but it made him feel... well, almost alive.

Footsteps alerted him to another person climbing the stairs. He knew it was a ghost, as no living being would be able to walk up the steps without falling through them. He sighed, not really wanting to be disrupted.

The Captain's head appeared from the gap in the floor.  
"Patrick?" He asked.  
"Yes?" Pat replied miserably.  
"You were meant to be running Food Club today. It was due to start 10 minutes ago."  
"Was it?" Pat asked tiredly. He couldn't be dealing with the others today.  
"Patrick, are you quite alright?" The Captain asked, ascending the stairs until he was standing on the attic floor. Pat shrugged in response, looking down at the floor.

The Captain moved towards him slightly, shivering when his head passed through a roof beam. They were quite low down; however, Pat was shorter, so it didn't worry him.  
"Patrick, whatever is the matter?" The Captain asked, slightly softer than his normal demeanor. Pat didn't reply, simply carried of scuffing his shoes on the floor (not that it actually made a mark, him being a ghost and all).  
"Patrick, I cannot help you if you do not tell me what's wrong. The Captain sighed, a little irritated.  
"There's nothing you can do, Cap." Pat replied, forlorn.

The Captain stood up straight, resting his hands on his swagger stick.  
"Now, listen here, Patrick. I do not like seeing any of my men upset. A problem shared is a problem halved, no?" The Captain smiled slightly, repeating a phrase the scout leader always used.

Pat sighed.  
"It's nothing, Cap. It's stupid." He scrubbed a hand over his face, wiping away a solitary tear from under his eye. He was just being silly. There wasn't even anything in particular that was wrong. He needed to...

His trail of thought stopped abruptly when to his great surprise, the Captain pulled Pat into a firm embrace. Pat sniffled, gently leaning into the Captain's chest. It had been a very long time since anybody had hugged him. Tentatively, he curled his arms around the Captain's waist.

They stood there for some time, with the rain gently falling through both of them. Eventually, the Captain pulled away, to look Pat in the face.  
"Better?" He asked gently. Pat nodded. The Captain seemed to deliberate with himself, before pressing a kiss to Pat's hair.  
"Do you want to come and join Food Club now?" Pat nodded, drying his tears before following the Captain down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep it as platonic as possible. Can def be read as gen, but my little heart loves these two so there we go.
> 
> I know the Captain may seem OOC, but I feel like he would have had a younger sister or similar who he used to comfort. I dunno, I think he normally tries to hide that side of him, but it is definitely in there. And we always get someone comforting Cap, I wanted to do it the other way round.
> 
> Very different from my normal writing, so any feedback would be highly appreciated!


	6. Day 6: Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mary and Alison have a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't go how I was expecting it to.
> 
> Quite short, apologies.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

"Alison!" A nervous voice shouted from the common room. She sighed, rolling over in her bed. Couldn't she get one minute of peace in this house?  
"What?" She yelled back.  
"There be a witch at the window!" Alison rubbed her eyes, yawning. She wrapped her duvet around her shoulders and waddled down the stairs.

She walked into the common room, to find Mary pointing at the window, whimpering. Alison frowned, wiping the condensation off the glass before jumping. On the other side of the pane was a black cat, staring into the house.  
"Oh, she's gorgeous!" Alison smiled. She had always been fond of cats.  
"Tis a black cat! Tis the devil!" Mary whispered in her ear. Alison sighed.

"Mary, it's a cat. No witchcraft, no demons, just a cat." Alison sighed, rubbing her forehead. She knew Mary had some remaining troubles from the past, but recently it was rare for a day to pass without some sort of shenanigan revolving around Mary.

"Look, I know that you worry, Mary. But you've been here, what, 400 years? And you're still going. You've got friends, however strange they might be. I think if Satan was going to get you, it would have happened by now, yeah?" Alison asked her softly. Mary looked back at her, a look of contemplation on her face.  
"I... I suppose." She relented. Alison reached out to hold her hand over Mary's shoulder.  
"You're a good person, Mary. God would be lucky to have you." She nodded at the ghost before walking out of the room, holding onto her duvet.

Mary looked out of the window at the cat. She bit her lip. Maybe it wasn't a sign of bad luck. It was quite cute, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hugs for Mary.


	7. Day 7: A noun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison looks through some old school books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I asked for a noun from my friends, one of them took it literally.
> 
> I'm in self isolation for the next two weeks :( I still have work to do etc so I won't go completely insane, but I am pretty put out by it. As far as I know I haven't got COVID, I have no symptoms, I'm just stuck in my house for a bit.
> 
> Anyway, let's not dwell on that, instead enjoy this chapter!

"Ali? A little help up here?" Mike yelled from upstairs. Alison sighed, folding her magazine and placing it on the coffee table. She stood up and made her way to the bottom of the stairs, where she saw Mike holding a huge cardboard box which appeared to be very heavy.  
"Your... English... books." Mike huffed as he slowly made his way down the stairs. "Very... heavy." Alison rolled her eyes and made her way up to him, taking the box off him and carrying it with ease. Mike watched her with wide eyes, Alison shaking her head in amusement.

They made their way into the main common room, and Alison set the box down on the floor. Robin was trying (and failing) to teach Thomas how to play chess at the table. Robin completely lost the other's attention when he heard Alison pulled out a copy of 'The Complete Works of Wordsworth'.  
"He was a great poet, though not even he could match my talent." Thomas remarked as he made his way over to her and Mike.  
"Mmm." Alison hummed noncommitedly. She wasn't so sure about that.

"Where are all these from?" Julian asked as he walked into the room. "Ah, Oscar Wilde. One of my all time favourites." He smirked. Alison shook her head and turned back to the box.  
"They were from my English A-level. I thought about taking it for my uni degree, but decided against it." Alison explained, taking out her copy of Jane Eyre.  
"This is from my GCSE," she said, flipping through the pages. Thomas gasped in horror.  
"What is this? You have written in the book?" He held a hand over his mouth. Alison laughed.  
"That's nothing. Have a look at Macbeth." She opened the Shakespeare play. It was highlighted and annotated everywhere with her small, cramped handwriting. Thomas read over some of it, before frowning.  
"Pray tell, what is this 'noun' you write of?" He asked.  
"Mate, you call yourself a poet when you don't even know basic English?" Julian scoffed, tutting.  
"I know more about the English language than you, sir!" Thomas retorted.  
"Don't think so, mate. First from Cambridge, remember?"  
"I don't give a damn about you being the first of anywhere!" Thomas replied angrily.

"When you're finished," Alison interrupted, shutting them both up.  
"Thomas, a noun is a object, person or feeling. For example, a book, Mike or happiness." Alison explained patiently.  
"And you need to know this? In my day we just learnt the language as is." Thomas asked.  
"Yeah, well, might explain why your poetry's so bad then," Julian sniggered. Thomas raised his hand to slap him, when Robin stood up from his place at the chess table.  
"Look, me no good at speech. Alison do exam, she pass, she happy. You no do exam, you write poetry, you happy. He do exam, probably cheat, but he pass, he happy. You understand me, I happy. We good." He explained, pointing at everyone in turn.  
"... I suppose."

Robin sat back down, Julian joining him to play chess. Thomas sat down next to Alison, reading a page from Macbeth, while she and Mike flicked through her old school reports. It was moderately calm for a bit, only the odd 'ah buh buh duh actually...' from Julian.

That was until a loud thud and a piercing scream from Kitty sounded through the whole house. Alison sighed. It was never quiet for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We don't know what Julian did at uni, but I can imagine it was English Literature.
> 
> This may be completely historically inaccurate, and Thomas may be entirely aware of what a noun is, but for the sake of this chapter let's pretend he doesn't.
> 
> This feeds off the resemblance between Alison and an English teacher I once had.


	8. Day 8: Polymorphonuclearleukocyte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ghosts have a debate about the longest word in English.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... my best friend decided to be really annoying and so gave me this prompt. Thanks very much. I did some googling and I hope this makes sense?
> 
> I typed out ALL of the long words, no copy and pasting, so if I misspelt any of the I apologise.

"The longest word's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" Pat exclaimed from the corner of the room. He had watched Mary Poppins many times as a child, and was very proud that he could pronounce the word.  
"How ridiculous. That isn't a word, Patrick." The Captain tutted at him.  
"I'll have you know it is. And it is the longest word, I got it in a Christmas cracker one year!"

"The longest word is antidisestablishmentarianism." Thomas scoffed from the corner of the room.  
"Mate, that's not as many letters," Julian pointed out.  
"What about Lucifer? That be a long word." Mary asked.  
"Aaaaaaaggghhhh is a long word." Robin added. At this moment Alison walked into the room withher phone. She looked up to see everyone staring at her.  
"What?"

"Alison, would you kindly tell Pat that his Mary Poppins word is made up?" Thomas pointed at him.  
"All words are made up." Julian shrugged.  
"He's got a point. My favourite one is polymorphonuclearleukocyte." Everyone went quiet.  
"That's definitely not a word." The Captain remarked.  
"Oh, but it is. Something to do with white blood cells, I think." Alison typed on her phone before showing it to the ghosts.

"Polymorphonuclearleukocyte is a special family of white blood cells." Kitty read off the screen. "How do you know that?" She added excitedly.  
"My mate did Biology A-level. She wouldn't stop saying it to me." Alison laughed.  
"... it's not the longest word though." Pat pointed out.  
"True." Alison typed 'longest word in English' into Ecosia.

"Alright, the longest word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which is a made up word to mean a lung disease." Alison read off her screen. The ghosts pondered it for a moment, before shrugging, and going back to their previous activities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The internet was my saviour in this chapter.


	9. Day 9: Peppa Pig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison shows the ghosts a new TV show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost, I did not know there was a Peppa Pig wiki! I don't know whether to be concerned or impressed. It has been a VERY long time since I have watched it, hence my googling.
> 
> Extremely short, wasn't really feeling it today, but managed to bash out something nonetheless.

"I want to watch my football!"  
"Actually, I think you'll find that it's my turn to watch Naked Attraction."  
"I will not have that debauchery in this house!"  
"The war documentary is on in five minutes."

Alison sighed, scrubbing a hand over her face.  
"What are they talking about?" Mike whispered in her ear.  
"Arguing over the telly. Again." Alison replied, flicking through Instagram on her phone. She paused on a video titled 'TV programmes from your childhood'.

~☆~☆~☆~ 

"So, pray tell, why are we watching... this, instead of Jane Eyre?" Thomas asked, pointing at the screen, where a cartoon pig was holding a dinosaur.  
"I like it." Kitty exclaimed. "I'm Rebecca Rabbit."  
"I be the striped horse." Mary added. Fanny simply tutted at the screen, while Pat seemed to be mildly enjoying it.

"Ali, I need you to help me with the shelves..." Mike trailed off as he noticed what was on the television.  
"Alison, for the love of God, why are you watching Peppa Pig?!" He exclaimed in disbelief. She shrugged.  
"Remembered about it, thought some of this lot would enjoy it." Mike raised an eyebrow.  
"And do they?"  
"Absolutely not!" The Captain responded, while Kitty, Mary and Robin simply murmered affirmatively. Alison turned back to Mike.

"It's a bit of a split opinion."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thomas def watches film adaptations of 19th century novels. I don't make the rules.


	10. Day 10: Galaxy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin contemplates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another bittersweet character study today. This time it's Robin's go.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this, a little later than normal as it completely slipped my mind!

Robin was having a bad day. First, Julian had managed to beat him at chess (he was sure the trouserless man had cheated), then Alison hadn't jumped when he'd yelled 'BOO!". He went to speak to the plague ghosts for a bit, as they were usually in an amicable mood, but even they were shunning him that day. And to top it all off, he saw a person on the magic box that looked remarkably like his brother.

So, all in all, he wasn't feeling the best.

The sun had set, even though it was only mid afternoon. There was frost on the grass, and a cold breeze blowing through the trees. Robin was lying in the middle of the field, looking up at the sky.

The moon meant a lot to Robin. He had been a ghost for an extremely long time. Long enough for stars to fade and die and for new ones to appear. Long enough for the sky to shift its position. Long enough that there was hardly anything in the grounds that was the same as when he died. But the moon? The moon had always been there. Never wavering, never leaving, keeping Robin company.

If it wasn't for the moon, Robin was sure he would have gone mad.

He heard gentle footsteps behind him. They were heavier than ones a ghost would make, so Robin knew that Alison was approaching him.

"Are you alright?" She asked gently. Robin grumbled incomprehensibly in response. Alison made to sit down, and then decided against it. She looked up at the sky.

"There's a whole galaxy out there. Sometimes I wonder if there's somebody else, on a planet far away, that are asking the same questions we are." Alison murmured, more to herself than the ghost next to her. To her surprise, Robin replied.

"Me watch sky lots. Me see things, I cannot tell. Make no sense. So, maybe. They never come here, though." Robin sighed. Alison felt pity for him. He was the oldest of the ghosts by a vast margin. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what that would be like. At that moment, all she wanted to do was give Robin a huge hug.

Instead, she whispered softly,  
"We can watch the space programme you like." Robin shifted so he was looking straight at Alison. He thought about it for a moment, before nodding.  
"Okay."

Robin sat in the Captain's usual spot in the television room, leaning against the window. He looked up at the moon, smiling slightly, before turning his attention to the opening credits of 'Ancient Aliens'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robin totally watches Ancient Aliens. I've never seen it myself, but I've seen the ads and it's literally space x conspiracy theories so it's made to be.
> 
> I love Robin, I just want to give him the biggest hug ever.


	11. Day 11: Hamburger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison and Mike get McDonalds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is extremely short, apologies. I got angry at my piano and after that I wasn't really feeling it.
> 
> I squeezed a So Awkward line in there, it's incredibly hard to spot as it could be from literally anything, I've just watched it too many times. Huge kudos to you if you find it!
> 
> Enjoy!

"Takeaway's here!" Mike shouted from down the hallway. Alison smiled, but that dropped from her face when Fanny shouted,  
"A lady does not order food from a restaurant! She has it specially made for her!" Alison rolled her eyes. If Lady Button knew what fast food was, she'd be even more appalled.  
"Your burger, madam." Mike bowed and placed the McDonalds box in front of her.  
"Why thank you, monsieur." She replied, nicking one of his chips as he retrieved his own meal from the paper bag.

"Is that Maccy Ds?" Pat asked excitedly. Alison nodded. "Cor, it's been a very long time since I've had one of those."  
"Never sullied myself with a McDonalds." Julian sneered. "As a politician I could afford much better quality than this junk." He gestured towards Alison's dinner.  
"Oi, it's a hamburger, alright? It's nice." She bit into it, proving her point.  
"I despair." Fanny pulled a disgusted face and turned away. She then wish she hadn't, as she came face to face with Mike, who was shoveling chicken nuggets and chips into his mouth at lightning speed.  
"Mike, you're gonna get indigestion again if you don't slow down." Alison commented. Mike waved her off, taking a long drink of his milkshake.

~☆~☆~☆~ 

"I feel so ill," Mike groaned, lying on their bed.  
"I did warn you," Alison shrugged, feeling little sympathy. It was his fault, after all. "You'll be fine tomorrow."  
"If I even make it that far." Mike retorted pointedly. "Ugh, I'm never gonna sleep."

Exactly 3 minutes later, he was snoring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> McDonalds started in 1974, and there were 100 stores by 1983, so it's quite likely Pat would have had one. And Julian is way too stuck up to have eaten a Maccy D (or so he says...)


	12. Day 12: Horse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kitty has a bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop this one is really sad no comfort, sorry.

Kitty was sitting in her room. It was well past dawn, the sun streaming in through the window, but she couldn't find it in herself to move. There was nothing particularly wrong - it wasn't her death day, nobody had made her annoyed. She just... wasn't feeling it.

She knew she should be happy. It was almost Christmas, she should be dancing around the house singing carols and watching romcoms. But instead she was in her room, hiding from all the other ghosts.

Kitty closed her eyes, and pictured her horse. Beaut, she was called. Her horse was the best thing in her life. Whenever she felt stressed or angry, she'd simply saddle Beaut and go for a ride in the grounds of the house. It made her feel at peace. She missed that.

Always the cheery one, she thought. Kitty knew that's how she came across, but it was more of a coping mechanism than anything. On the inside, she was constantly fighting a battle to stay sane. And some days, like this one, she lost out to the dark hole inside of her.

She sighed, and moved to her bed. Sleep was often the best way to get through these days. Closing her eyes, she fell into a light sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Kitty and want to give her hugs, I feel like she shows happiness on the outside because sometimes she's trying to cover up the pain inside.


	13. Day 13: Knife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison bakes a cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit late, sorry.
> 
> Back on the Christmas train with this one!

"250 grams of dried fruit," Pat read from the recipe book. Alison was making a Christmas cake, and had enlisted Pat's help as he was the only ghost she could trust.  
"And 300 grams caster sugar. That's it." Pat looked up from the cookbook and walked over to Alison at the other end of the table. She had managed to get flour smeared on her cheeks and was elbow deep in cake mix, but was thoroughly enjoying it.

"Okay, let's get it into a cake tin!" She exclaimed, almost walking through Pat in her rush to get to the kitchen cupboards. She rooted around for a decent sized cake tin - there were many old cooking pots, but it took her a full 10 minutes to find a suitable container. By this point, Lady Button and Mary had joined the scout master.

"Et voila!" Alison flourished as she waved the cake tin in the air. Scooping up the cake batter, she dolloped it into the container before putting it in the oven.  
"Right, how long for?"

~☆~☆~☆~ 

"How do I know if it's ready?"  
"You listens to it." Mary nodded confidently.  
'I... I'm not gonna listen to a cake. I'm not on the bake off."  
"You stick a knife in it." Pat offered. "That’s what I always did. If the knife comes out clean, it's done." Alison shrugged, but did it anyway. When the butter knife emerged clean, she placed the cake on a cooling rack before rolling out some fondant.

An hour later, and with much debate as to what a 'traditional' Christmas cake should look like from the ghosts, Alison was finished. This was only her practice go, so she called Mike in and they sat down to taste it.

"Not half bad," Mike mumbled with his mouth full, making Fanny grimace.  
"Why thank you." Alison replied, chuckling, before tucking into her own slice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea if the recipe is accurate, just used some numbers from the top of my head.


	14. Day 14: Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike barely ever gets angry...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I genuinely didn't know where this one was going to go, so enjoy this splurge of words!
> 
> I'm outta self isolation! Did go a bit cuckoo but it's all good.

Mike rarely got angry. He could count the number of times he had really lost it on one hand. Exasperated? Yes. Irritated? Most definitely. But angry? It just wasn't really... him.

The world was becoming more Christmassy by the minute. The TV guide was full of Christmas movies and festive specials - even the repeats of QI were now the Christmas episodes. Mike had flumped in front of an old episode of the Great Festive Bake Off when Alison walked in, staring at her phone. From the look on her face, it wasn't good.

"Ali? What's up?" Mike asked from his position on the sofa. Alison bit her lip and looked up.  
"I, uh..."  
"Go on, out with it." Mike prodded. Alison was looking shifty, not meeting his eyes. He knew it was something seriously bad if she didn't want to tell him.  
"One of the neighbour's dogs came in through the back door. And it, uh..." Alison stepped out the door momentarily before returning with a bundle of rags that Mike recognised as his one posh shirt.

He stood up. He'd bought that shirt for his leaving party when he was 18, it had cost him all of his savings and some besides, and had vowed to keep it safe no matter what. He growled angrily, kicking a cabinet in frustration. Those bloody dogs! Can't he ever keep them under control?

"...Mike? MIKE!" Alison shouted, breaking him out of his thoughts.  
"Just... breathe, okay? I'm tryna sort it, yeah?" Alison soothed, guiding Mike back to the sofa and manually clenching his fists.  
"That bastard, I'll..."  
"You'll do nothing, it wasn't his fault. Breathe, and watch telly. I'm sorting it." Alison tapped him on the chest before walking away.

Mike thumped his head against the back of the sofa. This was just what he needed. Deciding to try and focus on something else, he drew his eyes back to the TV, where Candice was rolling out fondant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched the festive bake off with Candice in recently, she's one of my faves ever.
> 
> Abrupt ending, apologies.


	15. Day 15: Mushroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison buys Christmas food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spent two hours dropping off presents today and wrote this afterwards, apologies if it's a little rubbish as I am extremely tired!

"Right, that's the last of the Christmas food. The freezer's gonna be packed." Mike sighed as he heaved the last bag of shopping into the kitchen.  
"What bird are you having on the day?" Fanny asked Alison, although interrogated would be a better word.  
"Duck."  
"How preposterous! A lady should have pheasant on Christmas day."  
"Me just eat whatever I find. That is tradition." Robin pointed out.  
"I ate turkey for Christmas lunch." Pat smiled.

Alison and Mike finished packing most of the food away in the freezer. The last item they had were mushrooms covered in breadcrumbs.  
"I'm sorry, what?" Thomas pulled a face.  
"We had those at our Christmas conference, '89. Of course, it didn't stay a conference for very long..."  
"Yes, thank you, Julian."

Alison shooed them all away as she put the last of the shopping away. She clapped her hands together, turning to face the ghosts who were waiting in the doorway.

"Right, Friends?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love those mushroom thingys, they're delicious.


	16. Day 16: Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Humphrey gets stuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this idea from a Christmas card by badlydrawnghosts on instagram!

"Alison? Alison!" Thomas burst into the library, where Alison was on her laptop, desperately searching for a posh shirt to buy for Mike. After some light blackmail thanks to Julian, their neighbour had sent a decent amount of money over to her account in order to replace Mike's dress shirt.

She sighed, and looked up from the computer.  
"What is it now?" She glared at him.  
"Well, you... might want to come and see for yourself." Thomas grimaced before he fazed through the door. Alison clenched her jaw but decided to follow. After 2 hours on numerous different websites, a change of scenery would do her some good.

She entered the main common room, and stopped at the sight in front of her. Robin and Mary were commencing in a shouting match, Pat was trying (and failing) to break them apart, while the Captain was talking sternly to Humphrey. The latter was on top of the Christmas tree, his head merging with the gold star at the highest point of the tree.

Alison yelled, promptly shutting everyone up.  
"Right, I don't know what happened here, and frankly I don't want to know. Just... get him down." She rubbed a hand over her face.

Two hours later, and with 3 different ghosts falling through the Christmas tree, Humphrey's head was finally retrieved. He thanked Alison greatly before accompanying (not that he had a choice) Kitty for a walk around the gardens.

Alison sighed. Couldn't she get just one day of peace?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	17. Day 17: Caterpillar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian screams his head off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are getting shorter every day, I do apologise.

A loud shriek disrupted Alison from scrolling through Instagram on her phone. It was unlike one she was used to, not high pitched enough for any of the women, and it had more substance to it than Thomas' yells. She frowned, following the noise through the house until she reached the front door.

The sight that greeted her shocked her core. Julian, the 'no shame', headstrong Tory, was screaming his head off at a tiny caterpillar on the door.  
"Julian, what the belly hell do you think you're doing?" The Captain reprimanded, strolling through the wall. He raised an eyebrow at the MP who was still making a racket.  
"It's... it's a THING!!!"  
"You mean a caterpillar." Pat pointed out, having appeared from nowhere.

Alison rubbed her forehead. Button House was a shambles at the best of times, but the festive season had seemed to have brought an extra layer of chaos among the ghosts.

"Julian, it's a caterpillar. It's not going to kill you. Even if it would, you're dead, it won't do anything. Now can I PLEASE have some peace and quiet for one day??"

The ghosts fell silent. Alison had lost it with them a few times, but all of them realised that they had been a bit unfair on Alison over the last month. Pat stepped forwards.  
"We're sorry, Alison. We got carried away. We'll..." he looked around. "Well, I'll try and keep out of your hair tomorrow. You deserve a break."  
"Thank you Pat," Alison breathed out. She nodded at him, and he responded the gesture before she walked away and back to her cup of tea in the kitchen.

Hopefully the next few days would be a bit quieter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if caterpillars are around in winter, but oh well. Let's call it artistic license.


	18. Day 18: Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison gets a phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops I forgot about this! I wrote a chapter for another fic earlier and thought 'alright, that's me done for today!' Oh well, I got it in in the nick of time.

"The phone's ringing, Ali!" Mike shouted across the hall. Alison shook her head. Why couldn't he just pick it up himself? She walked over to the landline and picked it up.  
"Hello?"

"Hello, is that Doctor Alison speaking?" A posh voice replied. Alison frowned. Although she had passed her PhD, nobody ever used her title.  
"Who is this?" She asked.

"It's Rain, you numpty." The person at the other end dropped the posh accent and started laughing. Alison shook her head and smiled.  
"Of course it is. What's up?"  
"Well, I'd just thought you'd like to know I'll be round your neck of the woods near Christmas. Flying back to Ireland on the 24th. Wondered if you wanted to come and see me."  
"That sounds great! You spending Christmas with anyone?" The line went quiet. Alison berated herself silently, she knew family was a touchy subject.  
"I'm sorry, I should have kept quiet. But if you're not, you could, I dunno, move that flight and spend Christmas with us?"

Alison worried for a moment, thinking she'd overstepped, until a voice replied,  
"That would make my year, Alison."  
"No problem. You eat meat, yeah?"  
"Yup. I don't eat loads of it, but I ain't a vegan." Alison could hear the smirk from the other end of the phone. She shook her head at the inside joke.  
"Very funny. See you in a bit then, yeah? You can come round Christmas Eve and stay for an couple of days, if you like."  
"That would be epic!"  
"I need to warn you, it does get a bit... crazy."  
"Crazy's my middle name! Love you, my dude. See ya soon."

Rain hung up abruptly. Alison stared at the phone for a moment before chuckling. Her best mate had always been a little nuts. It was one of the main reasons why their friendship had lasted so long.

"Who was it?" Mike asked.  
"Rain. They haven't got anywhere to go for Christmas, so I said she could come here." Mike looked at her pointedly.  
"Rain? Come here? Ali, she'll burn the house down making toast!"  
"Hey, our flat didn't ACTUALLY burn down. It was just a bit... singed."  
"If by singed you mean completely obliterated."  
"Oh, shut up." Alison hit him lightly in the chest. Mike pulled a face.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Mike cast his eyes to the floor and mumbled,  
"Might be." Alison leant into him.  
"Hey, we dated for like, 2 months. And I'm married to you. It's not like that." Mike still didn't look convinced.  
"Look, we still hang out with your mates, right? And you dated a few of them. Everything's fine." Mike nodded reluctantly, before pulling Alison close to him.

"I love you, Alison."  
"I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Rain will be making a later appearance, as you have gathered.


	19. Day 19: Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carol singers arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this little chapter!

"Ooh, there's some people outside! They've got tinsel around them and they have golfers!" Kitty squealed excitedly. Alison peered through the window, and smiled. She made her way to the front door and opened it.

"We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!" The carolers sang as Alison stood by the door, smiling. She adored Christmas carols, and this was one of her favourite parts of the festive season.

"That was lovely," she praised them as they finished. Kitty was standing next to her, bouncing up and down on her heels. Alison looked at her and mouthed 'any requests?'  
"Oh, I love Hark the Herald Angels Sing! It was the new carol in my time, and I adored it!" Kitty clapped her hands together excitedly. Alison asked the carol singers, and they complied.

"Hark the herald angels sing,  
Glory to the new born king,"

Mike joined her at the front door with two cups of tea. Alison thanked him silently before turning her attention back to the carol singers.

By the end, most of the ghosts had joined them at the front door. Pat had a tear in his eye, and even Lady Button seemed satisfied.

Alison applauded as they ended.  
"That was amazing." She smiled at them, before reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a bag of chocolate coins and handed them to the front singer.  
"Merry Christmas."  
"And a happy new year!" They responded, waving at her and Mike before making their way down the drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hark the Herald Angels Sing first turned up in a book in 1739, in the Georgian period, so I assume Kitty would know it.


	20. Day 20: Jumper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison has a new Christmas jumper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I don't really have any beginning notes for this chapter, so enjoy!

"I'm sorry Alison, but what on God's green earth are you wearing?" The Captain asked, baffled. Alison turned away from the mirror to face the doorway where he was standing.  
"It's a Christmas jumper! What do you think?" Alison held out her arms and spun around.  
"I think it looks like an operation gone wrong." The Captain raised an eyebrow disapprovingly.  
"Oh come on, Cap, it's a Christmas jumper! It's meant to look stupid."

Alison had got closer to the Captain since the wedding at Button House earlier that year. He'd helped her with the decorations then, and offered his guidance at the beginning of December too. Alison saw him as a father figure of sorts - having no family of her own, she had been drawn towards the army ghost. He was closed and secretive, yes, but everyone had things they kept to themselves. Alison saw the man inside, little glimpses here and there, and with time had managed to coax him out of his shell, if only a little.

"What is the point of wearing gaudy jackets?" The Captain asked.  
"It's just a bit of fun! Mike's got a Rudolph onesie, this is nothing compared to that."  
"A... a whatsie?" Alison waved him off, realising she was fighting a losing battle.

She jumped back from the mirror as Pat's head came straight through it.  
"Oh god, PLEASE don't do that." Alison breathed out shakily.  
"Sorry, sorry. It's just... I heard Christmas jumpers?" Pat stepped through the wall, fully into the room.  
"Yeah. Moody over here doesn't like it, but what do you think?" Alison spun round, sticking her tongue out at the Captain as he tutted at her.  
"It's rad! I had a couple of Christmas jumpers, it became popular just before I died." Pat smiled, a hint of pain lingering behind it. Alison bit her lip, waiting for the moment to pass.

"Anyway, Mary and Kitty were wondering if they could watch Love Actually?"  
"Again?" The Captain asked from behind them. Alison shrugged.  
"Unless Mike is using the telly, I don't see why not." She headed out of the room, eagerly followed by Pat.

The Captain shook his head in disbelief. However, he thought it best to follow. Everything had to be kept in order, after all.

It wasn't that he wanted to watch the film. Of course not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas jumpers became popular in the 1980s, according to Wikipedia.
> 
> I see the Captain as a big brother/father to Alison, I'm sure she's managed to open him up a little bit. And we all know Pat and her get on well.
> 
> I've never watched Love Actually. It's something I need to rectify, however as one of those few people who doesn't have Netflix, I have to keep on searching on actual telly until I find it. No luck thus far.


	21. Day 21: Tinsel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alison gets a nasty shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I really do not like Julian, it will become apparent here. Maybe the Christmas episode will change my mind, I don't know, but at the moment he isn't very high in my ratings.

Alison woke with a start. Somethu was tickling her face, so she swatted it until it unceremoniously fell to the ground. Bleary eyed, she sat up. Mike was already up, drilling from the sounds of things. She had bits of tinsel stuck on her pyjamas.

A snigger in the corner of the room made her look up. Julian and Robin were shaking with laughter, the latter pointing at the floor and slapping his leg. Julian was smirking, and there was a trail of tinsel around him.

It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out what had happened.

Alison swung her legs over the side of the bed, picking up the offending piece of tinsel before stalking over to the two ghosts.  
"Funny. Very funny. I could have choked!" She yelled, waving the tinsel in their face. Julian shrugged, so she threw the tinsel through him, making him shudder and retch.  
"You deserve that." She pointed her finger at his face, before angrily making her way to the kitchen for a cuppa.

Sometimes she wondered why she put up with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been binge watching BBC Sherlock over the last couple of days, I've got 4 eps left. That's probably why his name turned up in this subconsciously.
> 
> I feel for Alison, living with the ghosts must be so hard.


	22. Day 22: Snowman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It shows... sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've still had no snow, sadly, just a lot of rain, and even when it does it often plays out as below.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this little chap!

"It's snowing!" A loud squeal rung through the house, making Alison take one of her earphones out. She was doubtful - after all, there wasn't any snow forecast for the next week, simply rain after rain after rain.

However, she peeked out the curtain all the same. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw light flakes falling from the sky. The other ghosts in the room joined her at the window - it reminded Alison of when somebody would say that it was snowing in a lesson, and within three seconds the whole class had stood up to look out of the window. Pat and Robin were bouncing excitedly, and even the Captain was standing to attention, looking around the curtain.

Alison ran down the stairs, shoved her coat over her shoulders, and went outside. Of course, the moment she stepped outside, the snow stopped. None of it had stuck to the ground either, which made Alison feel a little down. They hadn't had any proper snow that year at all, and she really did enjoy it.

"Oh, has it stopped? I wanted to build a snowman!" Kitty exclaimed, making Alison jump. She still hadn't got used to them creeping up on her like that.  
"I know Kitty, I'm upset too. But we can keep our fingers crossed and hope." She smiled, although it was more of a grimace, and headed inside.

Kitty stayed outside for an hour or two, crossing her fingers and muttering 'please let it snow' or variants of it, until she realised that Alison hadn't meant literally. She skipped through the outer wall, wondering if Alison would let her watch Love Actually again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been watching Sherlock, and have almost finished it, so I'm currently fixated on that, so apologies if this is a bit short and rubbish.


	23. Day 23: Nativity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike finds an old tape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm v excited for the Christmas special tonight. Enjoy this little drabble!
> 
> In other news, I've finished Sherlock, so I will probably be fixating on that for a while. If I disappear, that's probably where I've gone!

"Alison, you'll never guess what I've found!" The woman mentioned sighed, forcing her laptop shut and making her way to the loft ladder. Mike had decided for some random reason to go through the boxes of things left behind when they'd moved in, and Alison had left him to it.

"What." She said pointedly, looking up through the hatch at Mike. He waved a tape at her.  
"Nativity, 1978. Heather must have recorded it. Wanna watch?" Alison sighed, but Mike simply raised his eyebrows and she gave in.  
"Come on, there's a VHS machine in the TV room."

The conversation had made its way around the ghosts, and soon all of them had congregated in the TV room to watch the tape. Alison stuffed it into the machine with quite some effort, then pressed play and sat next to Mike with a cup of hot chocolate.

"Oh look, isn't that Lady H's granddaughter?" Humphrey commented from his position on the windowsill.  
"I think it is." The Captain replied, smiling slightly at the screen. It was clearly a recording of a school play, filmed either by Heather herself or someone close to her. Alison squinted at the screen - the girl the ghosts were naming was playing Mary.

After an hour of bad singing, kids forgetting their lines and a speech from what Alison assumed to be the headmaster, the nativity finished.  
"So... she's like your step-cousin once removed?" Mike asked, confused.  
"Yeah, something like that. I dunno." Alison shrugged, flicking the TV over to QI. Mike groaned.  
"We've seen this one before!"  
"Go sort out the loft or something then." Alison waved her hand at him. He grumbled but left the room, along with most of the other ghosts bar Pat and the Captain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a VHS player, but it doesn't work very well annoyingly.
> 
> There's a new QI on tonight, so I squeezed that in too.


	24. Day 24: Santa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ghosts talk about Father Christmas and Rain arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, can I just gush over the Christmas episode last night?? I cried buckets, it was so sweet.
> 
> We've come to the end of my little December project, as Advent does not include Christmas Day itself. Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments, without you I probably wouldn't have finished this. It's a longer chapter today, I hope you enjoy.

"Is it Christmas yet?"  
"No," a chorus of ghosts groaned. Kitty let out a small 'oh' before sitting down in her chair.  
"I wonder if Santa's going to visit." Pat smiled. He used to dress up for his son, making him smile and giggle and most importantly stop crying.  
"What be a Santa?" Mary asked, confused.  
"Um, Father Christmas, same person. Saint Nicholas?" Alison tried to elaborate. Mary nodded.  
"Ah, yes. But whys he be's visiting on the 25th? Whys not the 6th? That be his day."  
"Cos loads of things got merged into one." Alison sighed, lacking the effort to explain further.

"Oh, yes, I was told about Father Christmas by one of our servants! He'd gone to see a play in his village when he was a child." Kitty sighed. "I asked my sister if I could go, but they said I wasn't to 'associate myself with those things'." She looked down hearted for a moment, before returning to her cheerful self.

"I remember a poet called Walter Scott. He wrote a poem, now what was it... 'England was merry England, when old Christmas brought his sports again. 'Twas Christm..."  
"Yes, okay, thank you, Thomas." Alison rubbed her forehead.

"He was seen alongside the Lord of Misrule in my day. Now that's a tradition I'd like to see come back." Humphrey's voice piped up from... well, somewhere, Alison couldn't see him.

"The American tradition of Santa Claus had come over in my lifetime. People no longer know the difference between him and Father Christmas. Disgraceful." Fanny shook his head disapprovingly.

"There were rumours in my day that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote letters as Father Christmas to his children." The Captain commented.  
"Oh yeah, I've read those!" Pat replied.

Alison smiled softly. It was nice to hear about traditions from eras past, from the people who were there.

~☆~☆~☆~ 

"Alison, door!" Mike yelled across the hall. She rolled her eyes, but complied anyway. The moment she'd cracked the door open the tiniest smudge, someone burst in and bowled her over with a loud 'oof'.

"Alison! There appears to be an intruder!" The Captain shouted sharply, before stopping as he took in the sight before him.  
"Yeah I noticed Cap, they're on me." Alison smiled weakly before gently pushing the person off of them.  
"Sorry, sorry! It's been a long time, that's all." The person smiled before handing Alison a bag. "Merry Christmas."

"Alison, who the bally hell is this woman?!" The Captain waved his swagger stick at the intruder.  
"Not a woman, Cap. And it's Rain, I told you lot she was coming. They're my mate from uni, remember?" The Captain stared at her in confusion. She sighed, realising an LGBT+ lesson was well overdue for the ghosts.

~☆~☆~☆~ 

"So... she be's a non binarys?" Mary asked.  
"Yup. Uses she/they pronouns." Alison smiled.  
"I haven't seen them, where are they?" Pat asked. Rain walked in at that exact moment, typing something on her phone. Alison pointed at them.

Rain had undercut hair, dyed lilac, as well as heavy purple eyeliner. She had a nose piercing as well as one in each ear and an industrial in one. They were wearing a Queen band t shirt and black jeans. She looked up and smiled at Alison. When they started talking, it was with an Irish lilt.  
"Alright, so where's your gorgeous husband then?" Rain asked laughing.  
"He'll be down in a minute." Alison smiled back, before turning to the ghosts.

The vast majority of them were standing with their mouths wide open. Mary was stuttering something about Satan, even Julian looked slightly appalled. The only person who seemed normal was Pat.  
"They seem rad," he smiled at Alison. She wondered about his reaction, but didn't come to a conclusion before Rain was dragging her away.  
"Come on, we've gotta watch Home Alone!"

~☆~☆~☆~ 

"Robin, no!" Alison shouted down the hall, the caveman cackling about heating doorknobs. She thanked someone that he was a ghost and therefore unable to pull any pranks.

"Which one you shouting at?" Rain asked from their place on the sofa.  
"The caveman one. Master of chess and scaring people." Alison sighed, flumping onto the sofa.  
"Must be hard."  
"Eh, it's like living with 9 children, but, you know, I manage." Alison shrugged.

"Anyway, in other news, I got meself a girlfriend." Rain smiled. Alison clapped her on the shoulder.  
"Finally!"  
"Did I hear Rain's got a girlfriend?" Mike asked as he popped his head round the door.  
"Yep," they replied, popping the 'p'. Mike nodded, trying and failing to not look relieved before making his way down the stairs.  
"What's her name?"  
"Rachel Fawcett." Alison baulked.  
"Something the matter?" Rain asked, confused. Alison made her way out of the room with a quick 'don't move'.

"Julian? Julian! Oh, for crying out loud, Julian Fawcett get yourself here right now!"  
"Yep?" He replied, poking his head through the wall.  
"Thank you. Just thought you'd like to know, your daughter is dating my mate Rain." Julian froze.

"Oh, you'd better not be a homophobe, I will get Thomas to slap you." Alison warned. Julian shook his head.  
"No, no, it's just... wasn't expecting it, that's all." Alison nodded, uncertain that the Tory was telling the truth, but left it at that.

"Ali, do you want tea?" Mike shouted from the kitchen.  
"Yeah, thanks love!" She shouted back, before making her way to the TV room.

Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're not interested in the history, skip over this section.
> 
> The first personification of Christmas was in the 15th century, but the character of Father Christmas developed later.
> 
> The Lord of Misrule was a lower class man, often a peasant, who was appointed this title to look over the festivities for one day. The Christmas character was sometimes seen alongside him. This tradition died out in the 18th century.
> 
> In the 17th century, Puritans criticised this Christmas character, and Father Christmas was sort of a rebellion against that. St Nicholas' day was 6th December, but it was bigger in continental Europe than in the UK. The personification of Christmas was recognised by a 'furr'd gown and cappe', and was usually an old, bearded man. He was seen repeatedly over the next 250 years. Originally Sir Christmas or Lord Christmas, this character developed into Father Christmas.
> 
> Father Christmas was mainly seen in folk plays at this point. In the late 18th century Father Christmas had become a staple character in plays.
> 
> The poem Thomas recites is Marmion by Walter Scott, written in 1808. Before Victorian times, Father Christmas was seen as an associate of adult feasting and drinking, and not of giving presents to children. As Christmas started to focus more on children, so did Father Christmas. The first letter to Father Christmas found was in 1895.
> 
> Santa Claus originated in America, drawing on Dutch customs of St Nicholas. He started to merge with Father Christmas, who was seen less with holly and more with a fur hood, among other traits. But even at the end of the Victorian period both characters were often seen separately.
> 
> As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, any separation between Father Christmas and Santa Claus basically disappeared, hence why Fanny was complaining.
> 
> The letters the Captain was talking about were written by Tolkien to his children from 1920 to 1942. These weren't published until 1976, so the Captain would not have read them but Pat easily could have.
> 
> Wikipedia gave me most of that info, though I did a little researching elsewhere too. Hope it wasn't too boring.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Christmas/Yule/Hannukah!


End file.
